Midland's Mallory Rajewski, left, and Lauren Plotzke go up for a block in Tuesday's Class A region semifinal against Davison at Lapeer West.

Midland's Mallory Rajewski, left, and Lauren Plotzke go up for a block in Tuesday's Class A region semifinal against Davison at Lapeer West.

Photo: THOMAS SIMONETTI | Tsimonetti@mdn.net

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Midland's Taylor Robertson celebrates after four consecutive aces in the final set of Tuesday's Class A region semifinal match against Davison at Lapeer West.

Midland's Taylor Robertson celebrates after four consecutive aces in the final set of Tuesday's Class A region semifinal match against Davison at Lapeer West.

Photo: THOMAS SIMONETTI | Tsimonetti@mdn.net

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Midland's Madison Hennessy celebrates a point in Tuesday's Class A region semifinal against Davison at Lapeer West.

Midland's Madison Hennessy celebrates a point in Tuesday's Class A region semifinal against Davison at Lapeer West.

Photo: THOMAS SIMONETTI | Tsimonetti@mdn.net

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Midland's Molly Zimmermann hits the ball as teammate Alex Warner looks on in Tuesday's Class A region semifinal against Davison at Lapeer West.

Midland's Molly Zimmermann hits the ball as teammate Alex Warner looks on in Tuesday's Class A region semifinal against Davison at Lapeer West.

Photo: THOMAS SIMONETTI | Tsimonetti@mdn.net

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Midland High upends Davison, 3-1

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LAPEER — Most members of Midland High’s volleyball team had never won a regional match before, so the Chemics weren’t about to let anything stand in their way Tuesday — not even an off night or a scrappy Davison team.

Midland battled through a choppy, uneven performance to beat the Cardinals 25-22, 20-25, 26-24, 25-16 in a Class A regional semifinal at Lapeer West High School, the Chemics’ first regional victory since 2008.

Midland (40-14-1) advances to face third-ranked Clarkston, a 3-1 winner over Flushing in Tuesday’s first semifinal, in the regional championship match Thursday at 7 p.m.

“It feels amazing,” said Chemics’ senior middle blocker Lauren Plotzke. “I know (most of us) weren’t here the last time (Midland won a regional match), so this is a huge accomplishment for us. ... Everyone’s really happy.”

Midland coach Tim Zerull admitted that his Chemics didn’t play their best volleyball but added that he expects them to be sharper against Clarkston.

“Davison came ready to give it all to us, and they did. In that second game, they were doing everything positive, and we were doing not much at all,” he noted. “ ... As you get further in (to the postseason), the errors will be much more magnified. We have to keep them to a minimum, and we didn’t do that tonight.

“We’ll have to play really, really well (on Thursday),” he added. “But we’ll rise to the occasion. It’s a good opportunity for us to be here (in a regional final).”

Both teams looked tentative in the first set, and neither was able to put together any kind of run early on. But after nine ties, Plotzke keyed a 10-3 Midland run with a pair of kills, an ace, and a block to give the Chemics a 21-14 lead.

Davison answered with five straight points to start a 7-1 run, pulling the Cardinals to within 22-21. But two Davison errors and a kill by Marissa Kraut gave the Chemics the final three points of the set.

The second set was similarly close.

Neither team built a lead of more than three points for much of the set, the score was tied 11 times, and the lead changed hands five times. With Midland leading 19-17, the Cardinals finished on an 8-1 run to win the set and pull even in the match.

The third set was by far the most compelling and most entertaining of the match.

Midland’s Taylor Robertson collected three early kills, as the Chemics jumped to a 5-1 lead. But Davison responded moments later with a 7-2 run to tie it at 10-10, and it was nip-and-tuck for the next several minutes.

With Midland clinging to a 19-18 lead, Plotzke, Robertson, and Kirsten Kareus each came up with some big kills to spark a 5-2 run — giving the Chemics a 24-20 lead and four set points.

But Midland committed three straight errors in a 4-0 Davison run which tied the set at 24-24 and prompted Zerull to call a timeout.

Coming out of the break, the Cardinals’ Michaela Ryan committed a service error, and Robertson followed with a kill on a point which featured two spectacular digs by Davison, to put the set away.

“They played their hearts out. They dug everything. They went after everything,” Davison coach Tiffany Burghdorf said of her Cardinals. “I cannot be disappointed in the effort they displayed tonight. They’re a young team, and they hung with a good team.”

Midland looked out of sync again early in the fourth set, as the Cardinals took a 7-2 lead. But that’s when the Chemics’ strong service game started to assert itself.

Three straight aces by Robertson highlighted a 7-0 Midland run, giving the Chemics a 9-7 lead, and Midland later went on a 6-1 run to go ahead 18-13.

Davison got to within 18-15, but a kill by Tori Blake and four consecutive aces by Robertson gave the Chemics five straight points and a 23-15 advantage. Three points later, Midland’s Alex Warner clinched the match with yet another ace.

“Our team is really good at picking each other up, so having that support throughout the match and having our team be there for each other (was a key),” said Plotzke. “ ... The biggest thing was just staying together through the hard times, because they (Davison) were digging pretty much everything that we were hitting at them. We had to stay together and find the holes (in their defense).”

Robertson led Midland with 13 kills, seven aces, and three blocks, while Plotzke added seven kills and three blocks, and Blake chipped in five kills and three blocks.